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EQAO in a "Student Centred" Classroom

6/3/2013

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round tables in class
I remember the first year I tried to get round tables into my room while teaching Grade 3 (it was a 3/4 split, actually)... my thinking was that in order to facilitate a more "open" classroom, where the flow of students moving in and out of the class would be less obtrusive, and where groupings could be more flexible, round tables should replace the more traditional student desks.  

Both my previous experience and my reading about student-centred classrooms supported this thinking.

My principal, however, did not.  She was concerned, apparently, with how students would write EQAO, the week-long, province-wide assessment that every Grade 3 student had to write each year.  

Four or five students at one table simply would not do for the one week in May/June when every Grade 3 in the Ontario wrote the provincial test... INDEPENDENTLY!  Effective groups from Sept - June, it appeared, would have to be sacrificed for one week of archaic pedagogy.  She simply could not conceive of how such a classroom set-up could possibly allow for individual students to write without copying off their neighbours, and she was not open to my ideas about how it might, in fact, work.

It wasn't long before I left that school and moved on to greener pastures.  I now work in a school with a very open-minded administrator who happily supports a group of staff who are keen to try out a variety of ideas to increase the chances to student success.

For those interested in how students can work independently in a classroom environment set up to accommodate flexible groupings, I offer these photos, taken this week, as students work independently on the provincial assessment.

As one can see, students choose to work in a variety of settings around the room, as they do on any other day when they are working on something independently!  While some elect to remain at their desks and "protect" their work from others' eyes with their literacy bins, others choose to work on the carpet, on the couch, under the xylophone, or in the reading corner.  

And, when they complete "the test", and we reconvene to work on an activity in small groups, the classroom won't need to be torn apart and rearranged. :-)
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    About Vera...

    Vera & her Sons, April 2021
    After writing for several teacher and multiple birth publications, including ETFO's Voice Magazine, Multiple Moments, and the Bulletwin, Vera turned her written attention to prolific blogging for some years, including BiB,  "Learn to Fly with Vera!"  and SMARTbansho .  Homeschooling 4 was her travel blog in Argentina.  She now spends more time on her Instagram (@schalgzeug_usw)  than her blog (pictures are worth a thousand words?!) 
    DISCLAIMER
    The views expressed on this blog are the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of her family members or the position of her employer on the the issues she blogs about.  These posts are intended to share resources, document family life, and encourage critical thought on a variety of subjects.  They are not intended to cause harm to any individual or member of any group. By reading this blog and viewing this site, you agree to not hold Vera liable for any harm done by views expressed in this blog.
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Vera C. Teschow, OCT, M.Ed., MOT
Toronto, ON & St Peter's Harbour, PE
www.verateschow.ca 2021
Photos used under Creative Commons from Sean MacEntee, Studio Paars, Bengt Nyman, zeevveez, GoodNCrazy, CJS*64, Accretion Disc, CharlesLam, Courtney Dirks, CJS*64 "Man with a camera", Accretion Disc, Bobolink, Ian Muttoo, BioDivLibrary, Alaskan Dude, IsabelleAcatauassu, runran, Transformer18, jglsongs, Create For Animal Rights, david_shankbone, Paul J Coles, foilman, Newport Geographic, Photo Everywhere, kevin dooley, Claudio , Alex Guibord, Tscherno, f_mafra, Terry Madeley, musee de l'horlogerie, BobMacInnes, wwarby, jonathangarcia, amboo who?, chimothy27, Elin B, cliff1066™, Grzegorz Łobiński, Rennett Stowe, Farhill, Phil Manker, Guitarfool5931, airguy1988, dierk schaefer, Rob Stemple, katerha, StockMonkeys.com, Ramotionblog, andrewk3715, charlywkarl, AJC1, rachel_titiriga